Candidates for Afghanistan's presidential election

Eleven candidates are vying to succeed Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan's presidential election on April 5. A look at the field:

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH: Having gained 31 percent of the vote as runner-up to Karzai in the disputed 2009 elections, Abdullah has an advantage in name recognition and political organization. He was a close aide to the late Ahmad Shah Masood, the Northern Alliance rebel commander famed for his resistance to Soviet occupation and the Taliban. Abdullah has a strong following among ethnic Tajiks in Afghanistan's north, but his perceived weak support among Pashtuns — Afghanistan's largest ethnic group at 42 percent — could keep him from gaining a majority of votes, even though he is half-Pashtun.

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FILE - In this file photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2014, Afghanistan presidential election candidate and runner-up in the 2009 election, Abdullah Abdullah listens during the first presidential election debate at the Tolo TV building, a private TV station, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Abdullah is one of the eleven candidates vying to succeed Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan¿s presidential election on April 5. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File)

ASHRAF GHANI: Ghani is a former finance minister who ran in the 2009 presidential elections but received just 3 percent of the vote. A well-known academic with a reputation as a somewhat temperamental technocrat, Ghani chairs a commission in charge of transitioning responsibility for security from the U.S.-led coalition to Afghan forces.

ABDUL RAB RASOUL SAYYAF: An influential former lawmaker and religious scholar, Sayyaf is one of the more controversial candidates among Afghanistan's foreign allies because of his past as a warlord during the 1990s civil war and allegations of past links to radical jihadists including Osama bin Laden. As a Pashtun and charismatic speaker, he may appeal to Afghanistan's large number of religious conservatives.

QAYYUM KARZAI: A businessman and the elder brother of President Karzai, he studied in the United States and previously served in the National Assembly. He is not seen as his brother's favored successor, and the Karzai name could be a double-edged sword, since many Afghans are frustrated with the current government's corruption.

QUTBUDDIN HILAL: An engineer by training with experience in Afghanistan's Defense Ministry, Hilal once headed a military commission tasked with uniting jihadi organizations. He twice served as first vice president — in 1993 and 1996 — and also served as deputy prime minister.

ABDUL RAHIM WARDAK: Karzai's longtime defense minister until he was removed by Parliament in 2012, the U.S.-educated Wardak was one of the top Afghan officials most trusted by Washington. A Pashtun from Wardak province, he earlier served as a senior commander fighting against the Soviet occupation.

MOHAMMAD SHAFIQ: Popularly known as Gul Agha Sherzai, Shafiq also earned the nickname of "the bulldozer" for serving as public works and transport minister. Previously a mujahedeen commander in Kandahar, he also has served as governor of Kandahar and later governor of Nangarhar.

MOHAMMAD NADER NAEEM: Naeem is the grandson of Sardar Dawood Khan, a former president of Afghanistan. He earned a computer science degree in London and served as chief of staff to Afghanistan's King Zahir Shah.

AMIN ARSALA: Born in Kabul to an influential Afghan family, Amin was the first Afghan to join the World Bank, in 1969. He worked at the World Bank for 18 years before joining the fight against the Soviet occupation. Arsala later served as finance minister, briefly as foreign minister, and after the collapse of the Taliban he was selected as commerce minister. Ardala also headed the Independent Commission of Administrative Reforms, the National Statistics Commission and the Economic Cooperation Committee. For years, he served as a senior adviser to Karzai.

MOHAMMAD DAOUD SULTANZAI: A pilot by training, Sultanzai defected to Germany after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and then settled in the U.S. He returned to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and went on to serve as a member of Parliament. Sultanzai also is known as an Afghan political commentator and talk show host.

FILE - In this file photo taken Saturday, June 8, 2013, Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul attends a joint press conference with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Rassoul is one of the eleven candidates vying to succeed Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan¿s presidential election on April 5, 2014. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2014, Afghanistan presidential election candidate and ex-finance minister Ashraf Ghani listens during the first presidential election debate at the Tolo TV building, a private TV station, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Ghani is one of the eleven candidates vying to succeed Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan¿s presidential election on April 5. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014, former Afghan defense minister and a candidate in Afghanistan's presidential election, Abdul Rahim Wardak, listens during a meeting in Kabul, Afghanistan. Wardak is one of the eleven candidates vying to succeed Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan¿s presidential election on April 5. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File)

FILE - In this file photo taken Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2014, Afghanistan presidential election candidate and Karzai's brother, Qayyum Karzai listens during the first presidential election debate at the Tolo TV building, a private TV station in Kabul, Afghanistan. Karzai is one of the eleven candidates vying to succeed Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan¿s presidential election on April 5. (AP Photo/Massoud Hossaini, File)